Post by shayne on Jun 27, 2008 17:11:48 GMT 8
Westlife are still the kings of pop
THE biggest pop band in the land, Westlife have defied the odds of the genre's life expectancy, simply because no new upstarts have been able to come along and topple them from their throne.
While they may have fun poked at them for their cheesy dance routines, those clichιd ballad stool sessions and their lack of cool in an indie-dominated world, the fact is that 10 years after Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh first got their signatures on the dotted line Nicky Byrne, Kain Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan are collectively still the biggest and the best at what they do.
Their 10th anniversary celebration concert earlier this month saw them pack out the fourth biggest arena in Europe, the 83,300 capacity Croke Park; their autobiography, Westlife � Our Story, released a week later, will shift copies by the lorryload, and who knows how many fans will be wearing their perfume, X (Get it? The Roman numeral) to mark the their decade milestone.
The boys are at Home Park tomorrow night. Simply to have survived where others have fallen by the wayside � Blue, Busted, SClub7 and B*Witched, to name but a few � is remarkable. They're twice as old as Take That were when they called it a day first time around, and three times as old as Wham! when George and Andrew went their separate ways.
With a cool 40 million record sales worldwide under their collective belts, they've also scored 14 number one UK singles; that's not quite as many as front runners 'King' Elvis and The Beatles, but an equal tally with third-placed Sir Cliff: not bad going in the overall scheme of things.
A good example of their popularity came a couple of Christmases ago when the race for sales saw U2, The Beatles and Oasis all offering failsafe greatest hits packages. Westlife brought out a new collection of ballad covers and pipped all the others to the post.
Their rockiest moment was probably in 2004, when arguably the most popular (and certainly well-known) band member Bryan McFadden branched out on his solo career. The others thought (along with their fans) that it was probably all over, but soon regrouped and stormed back, for the first time clinching simultaneous pole positions in the singles and album charts with You Raise Me Up and Face To Face respectively.
So how have they managed it where others failed?
Ask the lads themselves and they'll tell you it's all about the camaraderie, lack of ego, and putting the band above all else.
“If there was a hidden agenda with anyone in Westlife then we'd all know about it; nobody's after the solo deal,” says Nicky. Kain continues: “I think we've been very lucky to have people around us to pick great pop songs when there seem to be none around. The reason we're still around is very simple: communication. We have no- holds-barred honesty. In Westlife; you say what you feel and you don't hold back.”
When all's said and done, they're four genuine individuals knocking out tuneful, melodic songs that adhere to the classic songwriting structure: nothing particularly clever, edgy or challenging, but stuff that strikes a chord with millions.
There are still some tickets left. The Golden Circle is £65 and you'll pay £45 for seated and £35 for standing areas. You can book at Plymouth Pavilions box office on 0845 146 1460, or Home Park on 0845 338 7232 and Ticketmaster on 0844 844 0444, or purchase tickets on the night.
Credit/Source: www.thisisplymouth.co.uk
THE biggest pop band in the land, Westlife have defied the odds of the genre's life expectancy, simply because no new upstarts have been able to come along and topple them from their throne.
While they may have fun poked at them for their cheesy dance routines, those clichιd ballad stool sessions and their lack of cool in an indie-dominated world, the fact is that 10 years after Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh first got their signatures on the dotted line Nicky Byrne, Kain Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan are collectively still the biggest and the best at what they do.
Their 10th anniversary celebration concert earlier this month saw them pack out the fourth biggest arena in Europe, the 83,300 capacity Croke Park; their autobiography, Westlife � Our Story, released a week later, will shift copies by the lorryload, and who knows how many fans will be wearing their perfume, X (Get it? The Roman numeral) to mark the their decade milestone.
The boys are at Home Park tomorrow night. Simply to have survived where others have fallen by the wayside � Blue, Busted, SClub7 and B*Witched, to name but a few � is remarkable. They're twice as old as Take That were when they called it a day first time around, and three times as old as Wham! when George and Andrew went their separate ways.
With a cool 40 million record sales worldwide under their collective belts, they've also scored 14 number one UK singles; that's not quite as many as front runners 'King' Elvis and The Beatles, but an equal tally with third-placed Sir Cliff: not bad going in the overall scheme of things.
A good example of their popularity came a couple of Christmases ago when the race for sales saw U2, The Beatles and Oasis all offering failsafe greatest hits packages. Westlife brought out a new collection of ballad covers and pipped all the others to the post.
Their rockiest moment was probably in 2004, when arguably the most popular (and certainly well-known) band member Bryan McFadden branched out on his solo career. The others thought (along with their fans) that it was probably all over, but soon regrouped and stormed back, for the first time clinching simultaneous pole positions in the singles and album charts with You Raise Me Up and Face To Face respectively.
So how have they managed it where others failed?
Ask the lads themselves and they'll tell you it's all about the camaraderie, lack of ego, and putting the band above all else.
“If there was a hidden agenda with anyone in Westlife then we'd all know about it; nobody's after the solo deal,” says Nicky. Kain continues: “I think we've been very lucky to have people around us to pick great pop songs when there seem to be none around. The reason we're still around is very simple: communication. We have no- holds-barred honesty. In Westlife; you say what you feel and you don't hold back.”
When all's said and done, they're four genuine individuals knocking out tuneful, melodic songs that adhere to the classic songwriting structure: nothing particularly clever, edgy or challenging, but stuff that strikes a chord with millions.
There are still some tickets left. The Golden Circle is £65 and you'll pay £45 for seated and £35 for standing areas. You can book at Plymouth Pavilions box office on 0845 146 1460, or Home Park on 0845 338 7232 and Ticketmaster on 0844 844 0444, or purchase tickets on the night.
Credit/Source: www.thisisplymouth.co.uk